Along Hood River beneath Mount Hood is an oasis of quaint hobby orchards, full-powered fruit producers, and roadside stands sweetly calling visitors to experience the area’s bounty.
Text by Anna Harmon
Images by John Hook
Strawberries. Cherries. Raspberries. Blueberries. Apricots. Such sweet crops thrive in the Hood River Valley’s Fruit Loop region of the Columbia Gorge less than two hours from Portland. After the berries, which are the heralds of summer, come peaches, apples, lavender, corn, pears. From May through October, the farms and orchards here have their hands full with crops that invoke a sense of the seasons— the blossoming of spring, the hedonism of summer, the crisp days of fall.
Peaches and apricots develop a high level of sweetness in the Hood River valley, and visitors can enjoy them straight from the tree at welcoming orchards.
In October, the region wraps up its harvests of pumpkins, gourds, and chestnuts. Apples that don’t make the cut for producers or wandering visitors are turned into cider to be sold at stands or enjoyed as winter falls.
In August, our drive from Portland to the Fruit Loop started fortuitously with blackberries. On a stop to take in views of the Columbia River, we came across bushes laden with them. The loop itself is a 35-mile combination of Highway 35 and Highway 81, both of which are dotted with farm stands, pick-your-own orchards, and rows and rows of fruit trees. Lured by a handmade sign listing produce, we stopped at family-owned Mt. View Orchards, where a patch of dahlias proved irresistible. It turned out we could cut our own blooms for only $1 each. Heading deeper into the property, we picked ripe peaches and wandered between rows of apple trees. After paying for our harvest, we got back on the road. Not soon after, a roadside stand seemed worthy of a stop, so we hopped out. Here, we got a bottle of homemade apple cider.
The Hood River Fruit Loop is named not for the cereal but for the 35-mile circle created by the intersections of highways lined with orchards and roadside farm stands in the valley alongside Hood River.
The quaint experience of the area belies its incredible productivity. While the scenery should make this obvious, the primary indicator is a sprawling zone of industrial warehouses and trucks near the Columbia River where harvests are brought for distribution. Indeed, Hood River is one of country’s top pear producing areas— the pear was even named Oregon’s state fruit in 2005.
The Hood River valley produces a plethora of harvests including peaches, apricots, pears, berries, apples, lavender, and cherries as well as preserves, syrups, and ciders made from the local produce.
Every trip to the Fruit Loop is customized by the season and the weather. Even when fruit isn’t ready for picking, visitors can get preserves or sample cider at the Cider Fest in April among blooming apple trees. A trip to the area may result in a sunny day of busy berry picking or an overcast day of choosing pears at a quiet roadside stand and chatting with the orchard’s owner. Here, the sunshine makes fruit richly sweet, and the volcanic soil resulting from long-ago Mount Hood eruptions is kept moist by water from the nearby glacier-fed Hood River. To regularly appreciate the local bounty of Oregon, it’s worth looping back the region every now and again.